Halloween Town amps up the entertainment

Francis Ma

Thursday

Oct 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 25, 2007 at 1:02 AM

It’s Sunday night in a small dance studio in Westford and a group of dancers are performing the zombie dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with professional precision. Later on, in the same space, two actors lose themselves in Charles Schultz’s forever-iconic characters Linus and Sally as they improv the “Great Pumpkin” scene, based on the popular cartoon.

It’s Sunday night in a small dance studio in Westford and a group of dancers are performing the zombie dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with professional precision. Later on, in the same space, two actors lose themselves in Charles Schultz’s forever-iconic characters Linus and Sally as they improv the “Great Pumpkin” scene, based on the popular cartoon.

And, in a small dressing room off to the side, you can hear a boisterous rendition of “Love Potion Number 9.”

It’s all in the name of Halloween Town, an event put on by the Boston Medical Center (BMC) and iParty that is all about helping kids, both by giving them a safe place to celebrate the ghoulish holiday and by the proceeds going to the BMC’s Kids Fund. The big show runs Oct. 27-28 at the Seaport World Trade Center, in Boston.

It’s been a successful fundraiser for the past two years, bringing in more than $300,000 both times and about 10,000 patrons. But this year, BMC wanted to push the event further in terms of entertainment, and that meant bringing in new blood.

Which brings us to Kevin Roberge, event producer of Halloween Town and the man in the middle of the rehearsal madness at the Westford Dancing Center. He’s the vice president of creative marketing for the Manchester, New Hampshire agency wedü and pitched a proposal to the BMC about how to expand Halloween Town.

“I got the impression that before, this was like a conference for kids,” explains Roberge. “This year, I want this to have a theme park experience.”

Just from witnessing one rehearsal, it appears Roberge and his Halloween Town cast are making that initial idea into a reality.

The layout for the event incorporates a street, but instead of houses with candy, people will be greeted with various forms of entertainment (Don’t worry kids. Candy will still be passed out throughout the event).

“I think this event is great,” says choreographer and dancer Jessica Scalese. “There really isn’t anything like this for kids.”

Nor is there an event where you can see the bride of Frankenstein (which Scalese plays) singing and dancing to Gloria Gaynor’s anthem of female empowerment “I Will Survive.”

There will be ghost stories, a “1940s-style movie director” looking for horror movie extras (the kids will be able to see themselves on screen), laser tag, and an interactive show with Linus and Sally as they wait for the Great Pumpkin.

“Yea, I guess I would call myself a professional Linus,” laughs actor Eric Skoglund who has played the role before. “He’s a sweet and smart character in this chaotic world.”

“The challenging thing about playing Sally is that you have to be bubbly all the time,” explains Olivia Iafrate. “I think a little bit of her is going to stay with me.”

Also joining Roberge’s performers will be the pop group Girl Authority from Sudbury that consists of nine girls (ranging from ages 10 to 15) who sing covers of popular songs like “Life is a Highway” and “Dancing in the Streets,” along with original songs like “Rhythm of the World.”

A lot of the performers, like Skoglund, are friends of Roberge and have worked with him in past projects. And while their backgrounds may vary from ballet dancer to comedic acting, all of them have come to the project with the same exuberant love for Halloween.

“I love anything that has to do with imagination,” says Roberge. “Out of all the holidays, this one is about pretending. And it’s also about giving.”

The event raises money for the Kids Fund at the Boston Medical Center. The Fund provides clothes, medical equipment and prescriptions to any of the 25,000 children who enter the BMC each year. According to a BMC press release, most of these children come from low-income homes. Some worry about being homeless the next day, while others are at risk of being malnourished.

According to Norman Stein, vice president of development at BMC, a lot of that money comes from the mobile program in stores like Staples, Shaws Supermarket and iParty. It’s in the form of a $1 paper pumpkin you can buy, which comes with coupons for other retailers. Stein is hoping to raise $500,000 this year.

“We don’t get a lot from ticket sales from the event,” says Stein. “In fact, we give out about 4,000 tickets to the community, through the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA. We really try to get kids from everywhere to this event.”